Difficulty in bringing agricultural products to e-commerce platforms
Having sold agricultural products on e-commerce platforms, Mr. Nguyen Huu Cong (Long Phu district, Soc Trang province) shared that this type of business helps increase monthly revenue significantly, sometimes up to 3 times. But along with the advantages, he also encountered some difficulties.
“For fresh fruit and seedlings, I mainly only accept orders from nearby customers, because the shipping time is long, the preservation is not good, the quality will be affected when it reaches the consumer,” Mr. Cong shared.
To stick with and develop this type of business, Mr. Cong hopes that e-commerce platforms will have appropriate shipping methods for each product and simplify the registration steps and put products on the platform so that farmers can easily access them.
Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen - a member of a unit participating in the Vietnam International Agricultural Fair 2024 - said that doing business on e-commerce platforms helps expand new customer sources, but the company needs support policies in preserving and transporting special agricultural products.
“Putting products on e-commerce platforms is currently limited to the region. We have only been able to develop in the Northern and Central regions because some products cannot be preserved for long. In the near future, we plan to expand the market in the South, so we are hoping that e-commerce platforms will have policies to support solving these problems," said Mr. Quyen.
Accompanying farmers and businesses
This August, the Trade Promotion Agency coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City and the social networking platform TikTok to organize a "Training course on digital business skills to develop brands and build images for businesses and cooperatives".
According to Mr. Ha Vu Son - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City - this activity is especially meaningful for businesses in Can Tho in particular and the Mekong Delta in general at present and is an inevitable trend in the coming time.
“I really hope that with the experience of TikTok Shop, experts… will exchange so that many businesses can gain skills, build their own image and brand. Thereby, achieving the most important goal of reducing costs for businesses and increasing business efficiency,” Mr. Son emphasized.
Most recently, at the 2024 Vietnam International Agricultural Fair held in Can Tho City, Phuong Trang Group launched the FuNong e-commerce platform.
Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Minh - Head of Product Development Department of Global Online Payment Joint Stock Company (Phuong Trang Group) - said that this e-commerce platform will optimize the steps for farmers to post products in the best way. Currently, the company is simplifying the steps of registration and posting products for easy access by users. In the near future, it will develop other features such as posting videos, images or supporting users to write product information using AI...
Mr. Le Doan Dang Khoa - Head of FuNong E-commerce Platform Operations - informed - the launch of this e-commerce platform dedicated to agricultural products will help farmers easily post products, reach consumers and reduce costs to maximize profits.
“In the first phase, we help farmers get used to putting agricultural products on e-commerce platforms. After that, we will create conditions for agricultural products to be consumed across borders and plan to develop more agricultural supplies so that farmers can access reputable sources of goods at the most competitive prices,” said Mr. Khoa.
